Though the existence of carbenes has been known for over a century, persistent carbenes have only recently been discovered. Traditionally, carbenes were believed to be short-lived and/or non-isolatable due to the electron-deficient and ambiphilic nature of many carbenes, which rendered them highly reactive and difficult to isolate. Recently, it was found that carbenes can be stabilized via conjugation with appropriate heteroatoms. This landmark discovery led to the first isolation of heterocyclic carbenes, and spawned interest in new synthetic approaches involving persistent carbenes. Synthetic approaches often utilize persistent carbene adducts, which have been used to successfully synthesize organometallic catalysts, components of novel polymers, and efficient organocatalysts. While several persistent carbene adducts exist, more persistent carbene adducts and methods of forming persistent carbene adducts are needed.